I’m not usually one for introductions or newbie threads, but it seems to be the done thing around here, so why not.

I’ve been lurking for a few months but decided to come out of the shadows because I had something worthwhile to share.

I’ve been interested in sailing proas for a year or two now, my interest initially being piqued by photos of Russell Brown’s Jzerro (particularly that one taken in the Marquesas), and the more I learn and understand about them the more “right” the concept feels to me.  But my experience with outrigger canoes actually starts much earlier;  I grew up on the waterfront of Madang harbor, on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea.  While I don’t remember ever seeing a canoe with a sailing rig, not a day went by without me seeing several single-outrigger, double-ended dugout canoes being paddled around.  I think that explains a lot about my lack of reticence about proas; they have never been a foreign concept to me.

Anyway, I don’t have anywhere to build or store a properly sized proa at the moment and it may be a few years before I do, but I’ve really enjoyed reading about Johannes’ test models and I hope to try something similar one of these days.

I look forward to contributing what I can to this community and getting to know you all in the future.

Welcome to the forum Greg!!!
I hope you like it here.

Cheers,
Johannes